The S&P BSE Sensex index fell as much as 3.20% to 30,634.41 during the session
Domestic share markets fell more than 3 per cent on Tuesday, as a historic overnight plunge in US crude oil to below zero highlighted the economic damage caused by the coronavirus-led lockdowns. The NSE Nifty 50 index fell as much as 3.15 per cent - or 292.15 points - to hit 8,969.70 on the downside, and the leaner S&P BSE Sensex benchmark declined 3.20 per cent - or 1,013.59 points - to 30,634.41. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 2 per cent, as did the Nikkei, EuroSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent.
West Texas Intermediate futures bounced back into positive territory on Tuesday, but a $39 rise still left the price for May delivery at $1.38 per barrel, as a storage squeeze and collapsing fuel demand due to the lockdowns crushed prices.
India is also grappling with the health crisis and the government has extended the world's largest lockdown to curb the virus spread. The administration is looking at a staggered exit from the shutdown for Asia's third biggest economy.
"Some plants and businesses have been opened, but the supply chain is still incomplete - there is no consumption as of now with the lockdown," said Umesh Mehta, head of research at Samco Securities in Mumbai.
"Things are really, really uncertain and, therefore, no one wants to commit right now although valuations are cheaper, as people are worried about ground-level realities."
The country had around 18,600 positive cases of the virus, including 590 deaths, as of Tuesday morning. In Mumbai trading, oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries was the biggest drag on the indexes, falling as much as 4.3 per cent.
Infosys slid 3.9 per cent after the country's No. 2 software exporter suspended its revenue guidance for full-year 2021 as the pandemic froze client activity in the US and Europe.
The Nifty Bank Index plunged 4.6 per cent, its most since April 3, with private-sector lender ICICI Bank down for a second straight day, tumbling 6.7 per cent.
Aluminium producer Hindalco Industries was the top loser on the Nifty 50, falling as much as 9.2 per cent.
Drug maker Morepen Laboratories surged 10 per cent after the company got a license to manufacture malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a treatment for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
The Nifty Pharma Index was up 3.1 per cent.
